A 57-year-old man and his eight-year-old daughter died after they were pinned down by nearly 300 steel rods that fell from an Isuzu Elf truck they rode in that passed by the national road in barangay Tubod, Sibonga town in southern Cebu at 4 p.m. last Saturday.
Eduardo Purisima, a construction worker of Albiola Construction and his daughter Edeliza rode on the back of the truck together with a couple, Dominador Tormis Olanda and Gregoria Olanda when the accident occurred.
The couple were injured along with Purisima’s 46-year-old partner Fedeliza Laboca who rode beside 29-year-old driver Isidro Diaz Genobaga Jr.
Genobaga tried to avoid a big pothole by swerving to the right, but the truck tilted over its left side.
They were about to deliver 300 steel rods to a school in Sibonga town, PO3 Teofilo Manlanat of the Sibonga police said.
Free ride
“Eduardo and Edeliza fell down and were hit by the steel rods. Witnesses said the father tried but failed to shield his daughter from the rods,” Manlanat said.
The truck came from the company’s office in Minglanilla town.
Genobaga fetched Edeliza and Fedeliza from the public market there for a free ride to their home in barangay Magcagong.
“The child was supposed to sit with her mother in front but Eduardo insisted that she should sit with him at the back since Fedeliza also brought some groceries,” Manlanat said.
Dominador and Gregoria Olanda, who both work at the Albiola Construction as foreman and time keeper respectively, sustained minor injuries.
“Due to typhoon Seniang, the nearby river overflowed and created some pot holes in the road and until now these have yet to be fixed,” Manlanat said.
Genobaga, a resident of barangay Lamakan, Sibonga town, is detained at the Sibonga police precinct pending the filing of charges of homicide and damage to property against him.